METAmaterials for Structural Optimization and NoIse Control

Objective

Industries like aerospace and automotive constantly demand novel materials that ensure reduced material usage, improving the performance and sustainability of structural components. Panels, crucial structural components in aircraft and automobiles, require lightweight, high-strength, and vibration-attenuating properties. Elastic metamaterials, artificial media engineered to exhibit excellent mechanical properties, offer unconventional approaches to achieve a balance between extreme stiffness and wave manipulation capabilities. The exploitation of metamaterials, however, remains limited due to conflicting requirements, such as (i) enduring realistic workloads, (ii) attenuating vibrations on a wide frequency range, and (iii) reduced component weight. META-SONIC will realize metamaterial-based multifunctional panels optimized to exhibit outstanding performance in structural and wave attenuation roles. Using multi-objective optimization methods, this project will propose the design of multifunctional panels that endure stresses with a high strength-to-weight ratio and manipulate waves in a broadband manner, tailored considering lightweight designs. This approach will close the gap between the current theoretical design of metamaterials and their development for industrial and technological applications. The obtained computational results will be experimentally validated using the manufacturing (3D printing) and testing equipment currently available at the host institution (Universitat Politècnica de València, UPV). The implementation of META-SONIC will allow new paradigms for the design of multifunctional panels that address vibrations safely and cost-effectively, contributing to sustainable manufacturing practices, energy efficiency, and reduced emissions in the aerospace and automotive industries.